TFH and Tanked

[MadReefer]

I use to be big a fan of Tropical Fish Hobbyist but not sure any more. That is because the October issue of TFH has the two jerks from Tanked on the cover. They have the exclusive interview with them but I can't bring myself to buy the issue. Why would they even support these two I have no idea. Very disappointed and plan to send TFH an email.

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

This whole tanked thing is crazy and I wonder how it is going to plan out. They are at MACNA right now and they claim that they know what they are doing and they are doing the right things , but can not control the editing of the show. I'm sure they are getting it from all reefers when seen

 

[The_Codfather]

Flavor of the month and $$$$$$

 

[Daniel]

I thing a lot of what goes on up to when they put in live stock is being edited out for TV. Which I think is not good for the hobby. I would like to see what equipment they use and why.

 

[JohnS_323]

My two HUGE problems with the show are their liberal use of tap water to fill the tanks and their stocking choices. The overuse of damsels in damn near criminal and I'm sure the Tang Police are throwing things at their TV's.

I had it set up to record every week. After the second episode I stopped that!

Oh, and that shark tank as a desk was a great idea. I guess I can take "solace" in the fact that the sharks won't live long enough to out grow it . . . .

 

[Joejoe]

The should do a update show. I can see it now. Three months later 1 fish left in the tank.

 

[Hawkeye]

Don't the service guys also get a margin by selling fish to these customers?

I mean, if you bought 20 tangs from this vendor/service guy, and say 5 die in 3 months. You go back to them and say - can you buy 5 more? or get 5 different ones?

I'm just saying that for these people who don't really care about the environment and just want to make a dollar - if they look at it as a commodity - is it really that bad? I may disagree with that philosophy but in the end they are there to make a buck and not be the next jacques cousteau.

(ducks for the abuse that is sure to come).

Just to add - these guys are building massive custom tanks. I think the thought process around what goes into the tank is secondary to them. As a customer if I can dream of a tank with 3 flat screen tvs in the front of it - and they can provide it for $$$, then why not? It may be stupid to you/me/people who actually want to look at the contents of the tank. But for others a tank is an accessory. "look at me - mine is bigger!".

Anyone who has seen that show "MTV cribs" or wahtever that name is will see these sports athlete millionaires who know nothing about fish but want this huge gigantic 400+ gallon tank with cool saltwater fish.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yea, I have mixed feelings about this show. I think the tanks they create and the themes they base the ideas off of are really creative (the milk delivery truck one comes to mind, where they even incorporated the steering wheel into the display). But on the other hand, I cringe when they go to stock their tanks.

Tap water was a big red flag that showed me they don't care about the water conditions. All the salt buckets you see are Coralife, which is pretty much a salt for the novice IMO. They never quarrantine any fish (that they show us at least) before introducing them to an already existing tank. I can understand if they are stocking a new tank and the fish all come from the same system/supplier. But when you add fish to an existing tank, you are always risking introducing a disease.

And then, when they show you glimpses of them putting these tanks together, the way they "rig" things to fix problems is really disturbing. Throwing the ice in that tank to bring the temp down quickly.... not really a good idea. I'm sure that had some adverse affect on the salt mix. And then they dumped in lots of fish all at once! Wow, that's crazy.

I was really hoping this series was going to show more of the design and manufacturing of the tanks, but it's seems to be more about the drama between the owners and their family or "making the customers happy" than anything else. Another thing that gets me is their customers don't seem to deserve the beautiful tanks they are getting. Maybe it's just me, but the customers don't seem to be "hands on" when it comes to taking care of the fish. I bet almost all of them just hire someone to come clean the tanks and replace the dead fish. That's no way to respect the creatures you are keeping. A little maintenance efforts will help them realize just how fragile the environment is that these fish are living in.

Hopefully they read the comments Here and take them into consideration for future episodes.

 

[Hawkeye]

george - here is some inner workings/pics of this massive tank they built for a church in texas.

http://www.acrylicaquariums.com/iboc.htm

 

[TanksNStuff]

Thanks Phil. That was much more entertaining than the show is!

How does a church have the money to build something like that?

 

[Hawkeye]

who knows!!!! It probably is foreclosed already...HAHAHA.

You know the show "Extreme Home Makeovers" right? Well one family took their "free paid for" house and took a creditline/mortgage on it and ended up not being able to repay and the home was foreclosed! sad but true.

I recently also saw an article that 50% of the NFL "millionaires" are broke within 10 years of retiring.

All we see are the snapshots of people at their best. you don't hear the stories of what happens later.

In a few months I bet half these Tanked tanks have bubble algae/bryopsis and a slew of new fish.

 

[falconut]

Don't kill me, but I actually find the show entertaining. It's kind of like a comedy with some really wild tanks, plus some really nice fish, too. They apparently do a great job of creating one of a kind tanks. Which is supposedly their thing.

Now, I see plenty of things like the rest of you. I definitely wouldn't use it for a knowledge base. As far as fish selection, they could do way better (Copperbands & Achilles Tangs are not for beginners), plus damsels get mean. But how many fish stores will tell you the same about the selections they use? It's up to us to learn the correct information. They are after all a LFS. Even the guy at the wholesale store in LA tells them these fish are good.

I though the same thing as others when I saw hose water and ice and the fish just going right in shortly after adding water. Now, most of the people on these shows definitely don't look hands on. They'll just hire somebody to do everything. Just look at the husband that made his wife carry the ladder to feed the fish. Is he too good to carry a ladder? It seams that the show is about the amazing tanks only affordable to the rich snobs. I do enjoy seeing these setups because I know it's nothing I'll every have.

A follow up show would be nice to see if these tanks still look as good after 6 months - a year.

 

[reefsandrotts]

If you goto r2r David (revtree) spoke one on one with them about the reef site bashings they are getting and they assured him that what we see in an hour is actually weeks of prep set up and cycling the power of editing these days makes for a flawless splice in the time stamps.
Once the systems are set up they are turned over to maintnance companies that take care of the tanks,yes I do believe they add way too many fish at one time and the tang police probably had a heart attack.
I did see on another site that UGLY phone booth tank was taken down and sold on craigslist due to a divorce.

 

[MadReefer]

I plan to send Animal Planet a nasty gram. Hopefully, if enough people send one they will pull the show. After all the money they are getting is ridiculous. The quarantine setup was $30k!!!